catwoman7

yep - it's a rule for life. I got used to it pretty quickly, though.

You can always lose weight by lowering your calories and/or increasing your activity - you just have to ask yourself if you want to, or if you're OK where you are. most people end up in the "overweight" or "class 1 obese" category ("class 1 obese" being - not very obese), so having your weight loss stop at a 27 BMI (where yours is now, according to your profile - and that is in the "overweight" category) is pretty common. If your body is happy where it is, it'll likely be a challenge to get it to go lower (and to keep it lower), but again, you can do that by lowering your calorie intake or bumping up your activity level.

if you've been sticking to your program, then it's just a stall. Most of us experience several of those along the way - think of it as your body stopping to recalibrate once in awhile. Just stick to your plan and stay off the scale - maybe just weigh yourself once a week until the stall breaks. And it WILL break. It usually takes 1-3 weeks, but occasionally they'll go longer. But it will break for sure as long as you're sticking to your plan.

thiamine smells like sulfur - so yea - really awful. Although I've been getting it in capsule form the last few years (well, they are B-complex capsules, actually). Much better, since the capsule doesn't "melt" until it's in your stomach.

I know you're probably getting tired of this, BUT - first of all, I had a "non-bariatric" dietitian for my pre-op diet as well. But that surgery is so common now they know what they're dealing with and the requirements - or if not, it's easy enough for them to look it up. My dietitian had worked with several pre-op bariatric patients in the past, even though she was a generalist. also, if you're going to cut calories (which of course you should if you're wanting to lose weight), protein is the LAST macro you want to cut. Protein preserves muscle mass. If you don't get enough, you'll be eating through muscle. As long as your overall calories are lowered, you'll lose weight. I don't remember how much protein mine had my eating because it was nine years ago this summer that I started with her, but I know I was eating a lot more protein and a lot fewer carbs than I was before I started seeing her. also, I still eat 100-150 grams of protein a day because if I get less than 100, my prealbumin level tanks. Most bariatric patients eat somewhere in the 60-80 (or some clinics say 60-90) gram range, but some of us need to eat more than that for various reasons.

protein needs are higher for post-surgical bariatric patients than they are for "normal" people. Most of us eat higher protein/lower carb diets than do normal people. This is percentage-wise, not gram-wise. So yes, the dietitian will likely have you eating fewer calories, but a higher protein to carb ratio. So I don't find her recommended protein level that unusual. on my pre-op diet, the dietitian had me eating 2200 calories/day. As a 300+ lb person, I lost weight on that, because I'm sure I was eating 3000 or more cal/day to maintain my 300+ lb weight. On the flip side, many 170 lb people (well, women anyway) would gain weight if they averaged 2200 calories a day, unless they're very active. However, in addition to having me average 2200 cal/day, she also increased my protein to carb ratio, to more or less match what it would be after surgery. I lost weight like crazy (over 50 lbs before surgery) - and it was probably a healthy way to do, too. cutting your intake down to what a 170 lb person would normally eat might not be very sustainable at this point. That would likely be around 1700-cal (for women), give or take depending on your metabolism and how active you are. It was even hard for me to get used to 2200 (although I eventually did) - but I did lose a ton of weight on that.

I had my bypass almost eight years ago and never had a problem absorbing Miralax. And sleevers don't have absorption issues, so it wouldn't be a problem for them, either. So....??? as for milk of magnesia, I usually get the cherry-flavored version. I think I've seen mint-flavored, too. If the Phillip's brand doesn't have it in flavors, the generic brands that most places carry (like CVS or Walgreens) do come in flavors.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/what-to-know-about-how-long-marijuana-stays-in-your-system

dumping isn't very common in sleevers. About 30% of bypassers dump - so even there, it's not the majority. I don't know what the percentage is in sleevers other than it's a lot lower than 30%. also, plans vary a lot among surgeons. Some are low-carb, some are ultra-low-carb, others don't care about carbs at all and stress balance instead. So yes, some plans would allow potatoes and oatmeal, others would not. The best advice is to follow your own clinic's plan.

150 grams of protein for a 300 lb person is not too much - and in fact, skewing toward eating more protein vis-a-vis fat and carbs will help you lose weight. Protein takes longer (and more calories) to burn off than do the other two macronutrients, and it can also keep you satisfied longer.

I only noticed changes in intensity of flavors - for example, sweet things tasted sweeter and spicy things tasted spicier. I haven't noticed that in a long time (I had my surgery eight years ago) - not sure if it was temporary or if I just got used to it. As far as liking things I didn't like before and vice versa, that didn't happen to me.

a lot of people have issues with chicken the first few months. It can be kind of dry. Thighs with some kind of sauce might be easier to get down than chicken breast. Or just avoid it for the time being and try again later.

yes. Although carbonation can be hard on some people's stomachs. I can tolerate carbonation if it's not TOO bubbly. I sometimes have to let certain things sit out for awhile until the flatten out a bit.

I never could understand the big butt craze, either.

I never waited 15 minutes (or whatever) between fluid A and fluid B. They're all just fluids and they go right through you. Waiting to drink after eating is so the food doesn't wash out of your stomach before you feel full (or at least, not hungry), but a shake is going to move through pretty quickly. I've always counted protein shakes toward my water goal. Actually, I count all non-caffeinated beverages toward my water goal (although some people count coffee, too).

yep - it took me years to come to the conclusion that surgery was my only choice. I also lost over 200 lbs and my life is completely different now. I would do this again in a heartbeat and my only regret is that I didn't do it years ago.

It took about two months before my energy level was back to what it was pre-surgery, although it gradually got better, day by day...

do you dump? I never have. If you do, just limiting (or avoiding) sugar and fat should prevent that.

yes it does seem overwhelming at first, but after awhile it becomes old hat.

I would suggest something about the infamous three-week stall. It seems like there's a post almost every day from someone who's about three weeks out, frantic because they haven't lost any weight in several days. I really wish more clinics would tell patients about this early stall, because it happens to the majority of us, and most people don't know about it ahead of time so they freak out when it happens. also, something about how the rate of weight loss is dependent on many factors, some of which you have little to no control over, like genetics, how muscular you are, starting BMI, age, gender. And also not to expect to lose 30+ lbs the first month, because that's not common with people unless they're the size of the people on "My 600 lb Life". Just let them know that if they stick to their clinic's plan, the weight WILL come off. Their ultimate success is dependent on how compliant they are, not their rate of weight loss.

it's good to have it checked out, although this far out from surgery, the usual culprit is low blood sugar. I started having issues with that at about two years out. I went in for a workup and they tested everything - glucose, blood pressure, ears (it can also be due to an imbalance in your inner ear), even urine (not sure what that test would have been looking for with that, but whatever..). Everything came back normal, but I noticed it again about two weeks later. It was a couple of hours after I'd eaten a piece of cake at a retirement party. I usually just eat a couple of forkfuls, but that time I'd eaten the whole piece. So i let my PCP know. She said the problem was probably low blood sugar, then - it's just that my glucose level happened to be normal when I had the workup. She suggested I just eat something about every three hours - either a protein or, if a carb, then pair it with a protein. Seems to have resolved the issue for me.

not really.

neither harder or easier. It's just that it may be more challenging to get all your protein requirements in.

it's supposedly a lot easier to get pregnant post-surgery. This didn't apply to me since I was post-menopausal when I had surgery, but I think they recommended using two forms of birth control for the first few months since it'll be a lot easier to get pregnant.

a lot of us seem to use either MyFitnessPal (the free version) or Baritastic